After nearly two decades, blockchain technology and its native implementation, represented by cryptocurrencies, have gone through substantial development, and their role in financial markets has grown considerably. Evolving from their original objective as a medium of exchange to encompass more sophisticated functionality, an important question emerges: Do cryptocurrencies represent a new investable asset class? This book seeks to explore how cryptocurrencies operate, the underlying blockchain technology, and the heterogeneous functionalities they exhibit today, providing investors with a general overview of this emerging investment opportunity. Moreover, the book offers a systematic review of the academic literature on the role of cryptocurrencies as financial assets, followed by an empirical analysis examining the risk-return characteristics of digital assets and their contribution in terms of diversification to traditional investment portfolios.

Davide Sandretto works as researcher at the University of Turin (Italy). His research focuses on digital finance and financial markets.